Max Payne: The Movie is not Max Payne: The Video Game: The Movie. If you are looking for a two hour recap of the video game, which was released in 2001, then your best bet is to use the ticket money for the movie to go grab a copy and play it again.

For those unfamiliar with the series, this may be a better movie for you than those who loved the game. Max Payne is a NYPD detective whose family is brutally murdered in his home (don't worry, I'm not going to give away any spoilers here). The unsolved case leads to his thirst for vengeance and a whole lot of shooting, dreary weather, and dark New York streets.

What the Max Payne movie does well is the effects. Although some denounce the Valkyries used in the movies because they didn't even exist in the game, their ability to show the effects of the drug in the game. The shots in the game look amazing, both during the Valkyrie scenes and the shooting scenes. The gunfighting, no matter how brief, is also well done and is one part of the movie that pays homage to the game. Also, the acting in the film are well done, and the cast includes an interesting mix, from Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis to Nelly Furtado, from Ludacris to Chris O'Donnell, all who play their parts well. Yes, I said Ludacris can act.

Unfortunately, what the movie doesn't get right is a long list of important characteristics. Max Payne is a game about shooting, yet there is almost none until after an hour into the movie. You're basically stuck hearing a differentiated version of the original Max Payne: The Video Game storyline for the first hour or so of the movie. While the adaptation of the storyline from video game to big screen is an okay attempt, it adds in too many side tracks which never even existed and fails to really boil down the plot from the Max Payne video game into a cohesive movie. While some of the story getting lost in translation is understandable, the differences here are far too great to be forgiven.

Bullet time, one of the stand-out features of the Max Payne series, makes a small appearance here, which is in good taste since any grand amount of it would make the movie look like an attempt to redo the Matrix. Also, fans of the video game will be happy to know that many of the locales have been transported from video game to Max Payne: The Movie (Ragnarok, anyone?). However, there are some notable omissions in the character category, including many of the main characters, which is probably due to the shift in storylines.

The Max Payne movie is an average mix of story and bullets for most viewers. However, if you come from the video game then the balance is likely to throw you, as is the adaptation. Unfortunately, the movie feels more like an attempt to make money than it is an attempt to please fans of the series. An average film, but nothing too spectacular, save a few of the shooting scenes.

(P.S. For those of you who do go to see the movie, you may have heard about an extra scene after the credits. In my opinion, don't bother, the credits themselves are more worth watching than the scene.)

Thai Kitchen is not that much different from any other Thai restaurant you have previously visited. The dishware is a little less authentic, using colorful fiesta-ware style plates in place of what I would consider traditional Thai dishware. The setting is a little more well-lit than other establishments, but it could have been just about any other Thai restaurant otherwise.

The Tom Kha Gai soup we started our meal off with immediately made me think that Thai Kitchen was a level above other Thai restaurants I had visited. It was full of flavor, perfectly spiced, and had a wealth of mushrooms and chicken in it. I was blown away.

Unfortunately, I can't say the same thing about the Bangkok Chicken. Their menu lists it as a "Thai Kitchen Specialty." It consists of breaded chicken sauteed in a garlic sauce and garnished with basil. I hope that the regular chef was off that night, because the meal was absolutely bland and uninspiring. I could see the garlic, I could see the basil, I could see the spices, but I couldn't taste it, anywhere.

I'm willing to give Thai Kitchen another shot based on the possibility the Tom Kha Gai showed, but I can't recommend the Bangkok Chicken.